Navy moving Guantanamo commander out

2/14/12 8:47 PM EST

The Navy officer whose management of the Guantanamo Bay prison has led to clashes with defense attorneys will soon be transferred out of his post, the Navy announced Tuesday.

Rear Adm. David Woods, who took over in August as commander of the war-on-terror detention facility, will be moving to San Diego, Calif., to oversee strike force training in the Pacific, the Navy said. The reassignment was announced along with eight other transfers of top officers.

After arriving at Guantanamo, Woods ordered a series of searches of detainee cells, including in some cases their bins for so-called legal mail from attorneys. In addition, he implemented new procedures for searching legal mail. Defense attorneys, including some uniformed lawyers in the armed forces, have objected to the searches as a violation of attorney-client privilege.

However, a spokesman for the military's Southern Command, which oversees Guantanamo, said Wednesday that Woods's planned departure reflects no dissatisfaction with his management of the Caribbean base.

"During his time as Commander of the JTF, Adm. Woods has done a superb job leading the men and women under his charge and commanding a mission that contributes daily to our shared security," Army Col. Scott Malcom said in an e-mail. Southcom commander Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser and deputy commander Vice Admiral Joe Kernan "could not be more pleased with the job [Woods] has done in a very complex and high visibility position," Malcom said.

Woods's "selection by the Navy to command Strike Force Training Pacific is consistent with the career progression [of] senior Navy Flag Officers who posses Admiral Woods' scope of knowledge, judgment, maturity, training and experience. His selection for this position of responsibility in the Navy is a reflection of the high degree of confidence the Navy has placed in him as a senior military leader and distinguished naval officer. Any attempts to link his selection for his next assignment as anything other than an affirmation of the tremendous work he is doing in Guantanamo is simply incorrect," Malcom added.

Malcom said he could not shed any light on when Woods might ship out for San Diego.

"Depending on when Woods departs, his tenure could be one of the shortest at the 10-year-old detention center," the dean of the Guantanamo press corps, Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald, wrote Tuesday.

UPDATE: This post has been updated with comment from Southern Command.